


Always Tied

by Duchesse



Category: The Arcana (Visual Novel)
Genre: F/M, Impala Makeouts, M/M, Reader-Insert, Reader-Interactive, Romance, Self-Insert, Selfship, Sparring, doesn't know they're in love, self-ship - Freeform
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-03-15
Updated: 2018-03-15
Packaged: 2019-03-31 20:22:27
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,254
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/13982661
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Duchesse/pseuds/Duchesse
Summary: Your history with Lucio spans back to mercenary days where sparring was essential to survival. In present times however, you both have a rather unconventional method of trying to win.[Count Lucio | Reader].





	Always Tied

**Author's Note:**

> people can diss all they want, but i absolutely l o v e count thotticus as much as i h a t e him.

“You’re slow, Lucio. You couldn’t best a fly.”

“Hah! Is that all you got? Your footwork is so messy, feels like I’m fighting a kid.”

Lucio craned his neck in time for the flash of metal to whistle past his head and bury into the table across the room. His eyes remained trained on you and the knife you flipped into the air, skillfully snagging by the hilt as it descended. And then once again, you were upon him, gaining momentum as you twisted your core and slashed at him repeatedly.

A grin sprawled across his face as he parried with his blade, the sharp sting of metal reverberating off the walls was a beautiful symphony to him. The energy in the room enthralled him, returning him to those moments of victorious conquest as he stood atop the corpses of the fallen. There would always be a part of him that missed those days playing the savior and executioner–sometimes both.

With a throaty laugh, he reeled himself back to the moment and countered your strike, flinging the weight of your daggers and yourself away from him before lunging to the side, the gleam of his long-sword tailed with a swoosh as he swung for you.

Predictably, you easily dropped below the attack, palms smacking the floor and then propelling you upright again as an onslaught of swipes came from all sides. Lucio felt his smile stretching more as he caught sight of the tear in your robes, showcasing a rather shallow gash that you paid no heed to.

There was nothing more exhilarating than watching you weave about his attacks, face twisting when you narrowly evaded him, sweat beading your forehead and matting your hair flat to your face and neck. In the old days, you wouldn’t have found this as such a strenuous activity–it was disappointing, really.

“Can’t you do anything else? You’re seriously just a one-trick pony.” Lucio said with a near snarl, swinging his long-sword sideways at your head. And naturally, you crouched below it and jumped back. “Tch, fucking boring.”

“Aren’t you capable of actually doing anything other than swinging a sword around? Juvenile.” You countered breathily, lips turned up wryly. “Hard to believe you even knew how to lead conquests.”

Those insults merely fueled the desperation for a good fight, a real rush of adrenaline that you both had been depraved of for some years. The clash of metal ricocheted violently and relentlessly, the silver of your blades were mere blurs as your movements quickened.

Lucio felt his heart hammering against his chest, breaths leaving him ragged and sucking air greedily as the corners of his mouth salivated. You were having a harder time now batting away his attacks with your daggers, eyes darting across the room briefly before the back of your heel met the exquisite velvet in a chair and you leapt back atop the dining room table.

The servants had been preparing that evening’s feast for a while, aromas from the decadent dishes wafting under his nose. And yet, he merely kicked aside the dishes heavily, reveling in the cacophony  of shattering glass and the rumble of his footfalls as he sprinted across the table at you.

“Nadia is going to be so pissed!” you barked a laugh, swiping several fine plates from the table and flinging them at him. As though he were up to plate to strike a ball, the china emitted a sharp crack as they broke and skittered across the floor.

“Stay still, will you?!” Lucio growled, sword embedding into the table with a thunk as you stumbled out of reach. To his surprise, you immediately bounded back, unsheathing another knife and thrust it towards him. “Finally got some balls, do you?”

A gasp sputtered from your lips as his false hand grabbed the knife and wrenched it out of your grasp before seizing your wrist to keep you from trying again. The sight of you squirming in his hold was magnificent, face contorted with your thoughts churning out thousands of ways of escape.

There were few things more satisfying to him than seeing you struggle, though it a rarity indeed.

“You’re slow in more than one way, Lucio.”

Once he felt the warmth of your lips on his cheek, his perfect clap-back had dissolved into nothing and his mind muddled, stalling him doing much other than staring at your face incredulously. Hopefully with some disgust, too.

Your eyes crinkled and your lips pulled impossibly taut as you pulled away, easily tearing your wrist away from him and whirling your body around once. Air rushed from his lungs as your sole struck him in the gut and launched him off the table to the marble floor speckled with glass and food.

Lucio wasn’t given a chance to collect his bearings as his long-sword slid across the floor, ringing painfully in his ears. With a huff he hoisted the sword above his head to deflect your next attack, though now he couldn’t stop the knowing grin pulling his lips thin over his teeth.

“You call that a kiss? Mediocre,” Lucio snickered, dabbing at his cheek where you kissed with the back of his glove. “Come here and let me show you how it’s done.”

He thrust the tip of his blade into the floor, he rose to his feet and made a grab for you and then another. You expertly dodged his hands, gaining far too much amusement from his attempts as you backed towards the wall–unbeknownst to you.

The way your face fell, weighed with the gravity of what just happened made him squirm and all the more excitement. “You should know by now you can’t beat me. Just give up.”

His false hand clapped against the stone at your side, caging you against him as you moved your arms towards your waist. Your eyes fluttered shut when he neared, hot breath fanning across your lips  and then fully smothering you in the kiss. It was a rough and needy, barely giving you the time to compose yourself before he was pressing back into it again.

The back of your head was comfortably pushed between the wall and him, never truly giving you the opportunity to kiss back nor to get away from it. He enjoyed being all you could feel at that moment, encompassing and powerful.

And yet it ended suddenly, though his mouth hovered just above yours, teasing and enticing you to lure him back. You tilted your head slightly as you needled the blade against his gut harder against his clothes, while he traced the tip of his knife higher–right where your kidney was.

With a suffering groan, he rolled his shoulders back. “It always ends this way.”

“Brawn never trumps brains, Lucio.” You said airily, returning your dagger to the pouch. “Anyway. It’s a tie, let’s get out of here before someone can see us in the room.”

Lucio slowly tucked his own knife away, though his narrowed gaze remained steadily on yours. “How about not?”

You eyed him cautiously as he leaned in once again, though this time both his arms were against you and you couldn’t move at all. “Lucio, don’t be stupid–”

“Will you just shut up?”

A small sound rumbled in your throat as his lips pressed hungrily to yours again, you rolled your eyes but melted against him, ignoring his delight at the clamor happening just out of sight as people filed in to the room saw the chaos.

**Author's Note:**

> MAKE SURE YOU LET ME KNOW IF YOU ENJOYED OR HAVE A REQUEST!


End file.
